diff --git a/oscfs/fs.py b/oscfs/fs.py
index 8e73ef9..20c152c 100644
--- a/oscfs/fs.py
+++ b/oscfs/fs.py
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 import errno
 import os
 import sys
+import threading
+import time
 
 # third party modules
 import fuse
@@ -32,6 +34,7 @@ def __init__(self):
         # unallocated file handles
         self.m_free_handles = list(range(1024))
         self._setupParser()
+        self._keepalive_timer = threading.Thread(target=self._keepalive_thread)
 
     def _setupParser(self):
 
@@ -84,6 +87,14 @@ def _setupParser(self):
                 seconds. Set to zero to disable caching."""
         )
 
+        self.m_parser.add_argument(
+            "--keepalive-interval", type=int,
+            default=0,
+            help=f"""Specifies the time in seconds a keepalive request will be
+                issued towards the OBS backend. Default: 0
+                seconds. Set to zero to disable keepalive."""
+        )
+
     def _checkAuth(self):
         """Check for correct authentication at the remote server."""
         # simply fetch the root entries, this will also benefit the
@@ -139,8 +150,13 @@ def _setupLogfile(self):
         sys.stdout = lf
         sys.stderr = lf
 
-    def run(self):
+    def _keepalive_thread(self):
+        while self._keepalive:
+            time.sleep(self.m_args.keepalive_interval)
+            # send a request to keep the connection alive
+            self.m_obs.about()
 
+    def run(self):
         self.m_args = self.m_parser.parse_args()
         self._setupLogfile()
         self.m_obs.configure(self.m_args.apiurl)
@@ -164,6 +180,9 @@ def run(self):
             nonempty=True
         )
 
+        self._keepalive = False
+        self._keepalive_timer.join()
+
     def init(self, path):
         """This is called upon file system initialization."""
         if self.m_args.f:
@@ -173,6 +192,9 @@ def init(self, path):
             print("file system initialized")
             sys.stdout.flush()
 
+        self._keepalive = self.m_args.keepalive_interval > 0
+        self._keepalive_timer.start()
+
     # global file system methods
 
     def getattr(self, path, fh=None):
diff --git a/oscfs/obs.py b/oscfs/obs.py
index 8194637..38ca24c 100644
--- a/oscfs/obs.py
+++ b/oscfs/obs.py
@@ -198,6 +198,17 @@ def _download(self, urlcomps, query=dict()):
 
         return f.read()
 
+    @transparent_retry()
+    def about(self):
+        url = osc.core.makeurl(
+            self.m_apiurl,
+            ['about']
+        )
+
+        f = osc.core.http_GET(url)
+
+        return f.read()
+
     @transparent_retry()
     def _getPackageRevisions(self, project, package, fmt):
         """Returns the list of revisions for the given project/package